The True Past
by shiron222
Summary: What actually happened in the Elemental Nations past. Who the Bijuu truly are, and how Uzumaki Naruto corrects the errors of humanity's past
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tales of Symphonia, though I do own a copy of the game

A/N First story ever. Not sure if this is going to be a one shot or a prologue.

**Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world...**

or so the stories of long ago say. However that is far from the end. After the Chosen Colette and her friend Lloyd Irving, as well as their 7 other companions reunited the world and quelled the unrest caused by the sudden clashing of two completely different societies, there was a great peace. One that lasted for 50 years before calamity struck again, this time far worse than a false religion or a rebel group. No, this calamity was a demon so powerful it broke through the barrier in the Ginnungagap, a barrier between worlds, destroying the half-elf, Richter, and weakening severely the summon spirit, Ratatosk, who were guarding it. Destruction reigned for a total of a year before the Group of World Regeneration, or more specifically Raine Sage did. She was a scholar of great renown at that point. She discovered a lost magic, one so powerful it was sealed a way for many millennia even before the reign of cruxis.

A spell that would split up the mana based body of the Juubi, as it was called at that point, into nine parts, and seal the soul into the moon. With only 8 of their number left, most of whom were human and aging at that point, they weren't sure what to do. Though still in great shape due to their past connections with the Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals, Kratos, their ninth, had left years ago to wander through the blackness of space on the comet Derris-Kharlan. They needed one more. Marta Lualdi, who had befriended them two years after the world regeneration volunteered, as she had lost her love, the human form of the Summon Spirit Ratatosk. Emil Castagnier had died due to his connection with the powerful spirit.

With the nine needed, the group endeavored to manipulate the Juubi in range to do the spell. They succeeded, and the Juubi's body was split and the soul sealed. What the group didn't realize though, was that the magic wasn't sealed due to it's power. No, not only was it never needed in all that time, but the complexity and side effects are what never made it not viable. It was simplified with nine people participating, however the side effects were still ghastly. The mana of the juubi was so powerful and dense it destroyed the nine's bodies and their souls were forced into the mana constructs, which had taken the shape of nine monstrous animals.

The battle was over, and knowing how humanity would react they secluded themselves in far off corners of the world. Civilization had been devastated, and it took more than a century to even regain a semblance of society. Even so, the knowledge of the past had been destroyed, so almost nothing was known about Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, the two kingdoms that existed before the calamity.

The ability to manipulate mana had weakened as the elves and half-elves of the world intermingled with the humans, and the bloodlines of both races and those caught in between thinned. Mana soon was called chakra, and the ability to use it became widespread. None had the power of mages of old, though they had more control and ingenuity.

About 150 years after the calamity, the group of World Regeneration was discovered, though they were not recognized as such anymore. All society saw was a source to gain more power. The group defended themselves, but people had discovered a skill call Fuuinjutsu, or the Sealing Artes, in the old tongue. Using this Fuuinjutsu, they were able to seal the Bijuu, as they called the group, into vessels. First into inanimate objects, then eventually they discovered seals powerful enough to use humans as vessels. Only the so-called Kyuubi escaped, due to her having the largest portion of power from the Juubi.

Eventually, the Bijuu came to resent humanity. Even Lloyd Irving and Colette Brunel, the staunchest supporters in the good of people, became jaded. Never treated as equals, they and the human vessels they were contained in, were treated as monsters. The treatment of their containers had contributed to their dislike of humanity as all of them were still human or elven at heart and still hated the prejudice of others. Some were beaten, others simply ignored, the many vessels had died off at most 30 years after each sealing. When released the Bijuu felt great rage and destroyed the clans who attempted to gain their power. This cycle of being sealed and released lasted for a further 100 years, each time a clan being destroyed. Bijuu soon became viewed as mindless calamities themselves. The Kyuubi, the only one to have escaped sealing up to now, was eventually controlled against her will by a person with a genetic mutation so powerful it broke the limits of space and time. Uchiha Madara, looking to get revenge on his former friend Senju Hashirama for being elected leader of the first Ninja village, discovered the Kyuubi, and hypnotized her with his so called Sharingan, and forced her to do battle for him. She resisted and Madara was unable to utilize her full strength. The consequence of this though, was that she too was finally sealed.

Years passed, and the original Jinchuuriki (or "power of human sacrifice" in the old tongue) of the Kyuubi died of old age. A rather rare feat to be sure, though this was accomplished because few knew of her new status. Eventually, a relative of hers was chosen to take her place. Uzumaki Kushina, too was accepted, though only because few knew of her status. She got married, and eventually got pregnant. On the eve of her son's birth a man claiming to be Uchiha Madara appeared, ripped the Kyuubi from Kushina's body, and gained control of it again. Her husband, the fourth leader of his village, sacrificed himself and Kushina to seal half of the Kyuubi's chakra, as well as her soul into their newborn son. Sealing a bit of their souls and chakra into the seal as a safety measure, they passed into the Shinigami's stomach, as payment for help to seal the kyuubi.

This is where the history truly starts for one Uzumaki Naruto. His life and times, trials and tribulations begin here.


	2. Chapter 1

Sitting alone again on the swing, wishing for somebody to acknowledge him, or be his friend, was Uzumaki Naruto. Lonelieness was almost all he knew. Many think he gets abused, but something far worse in some ways happens. He is ignored, completely and totally, as if he doesn't exist. Only the Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure no Sato, the Sandaime Hiruzen Sarutobi, as well as a man named Teuchi, who owns a Ramen stand, pays attention to him.

At the age of 8, he has yet to make any friends his own age. His parents died the night he was born, or so he was told. Many times though the citizens have muttered otherwise, saying things like, "I wouldn't be surprised if it's parents abandoned it" or "Such a thing deserves no family". He started believing them about 2 years ago. After all, only one or two people are saying otherwise, so the majority must be correct, right? Even when he entered the academy at the age of seven did he not get attention. Nobody would help him, and would only point out his flaws without mentioning a way to fix them.

Deciding that it's once again a hopeless attempt to get somebody to notice him he starts to walk back to his apartment. On the way though, he notices a kid playing around. He appeared to be setting a bucket of water that would fall if a certain rope was tugged by passers by. Naruto was intrigued and decided to once again try to get some form of acknowledgement. Walking over he asked, "What are you doing?"

The kid responded, "Go away freak, we're trying to set up a prank."

"What's a prank?" was Naruto's further question.

"What are you, stupid?" the kid replied, "it's a practical joke."

With that said he ignored Naruto and finished setting up his prank. Naruto decided to wait and see what would happen. He stood back a ways and watched as another kid walked down the street, and tripped the rope. The water, bucket and all, landed on his head. Noticing Naruto he started chasing him and yelling about the prank. Naruto was confused, but secretly pleased. Despite that it was negative he was actually being acknowledged for something. He wasn't getting ignored. Granted he didn't do anything, but it felt good. Eventually the other boy gave up and Naruto was able to go home unimpeded.

That night, Naruto made a decision. He would prank as much as he could, so that he could be noticed for more than a few seconds at a time. With that decision he made his dinner of cup ramen and got ready for bed. The next day was an off day for the academy, so Naruto decided to do his first prank. At a loss for ideas, he simply copied what the kid yesterday did. Getting a bucket and rope, he filled the bucket with water and tied the rope to the bucket's handle. Unfortunately, the only place to place the bucket was in a branch on a tall tree. He unsteadily climbed up the tree and placed the bucket down. unfortunately branch was thin and wobbly, so as he let go of the bucket the branch decided to snap. Falling ten feet to the ground, and the bucket landing on his head caused Naruto to be knocked out.

Slowly Naruto came to. He wasn't expecting to awaken in a sewer, though. Nor did he expect for the sewer to contain a giant cage with the word seal on it or see an enormous silhouette behind the cage. Nervously, he called out, "W-who's there?"

Slowly the silhouette stirred. Two huge eyes appeared, and a deep voice muttered in a language Naruto didn't understand, "So my Jailer finally decides to appear. Well well, what to do. Ignore him and hope he leaves or scare him to death and make him leave. Decisions decisions."

Not knowing what was said Naruto nervously states, "What are you? Are you going to eat me?"

Laughing, the figure says in a language Naruto understands, "You don't know what I am? I am what you humans call the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Naruto, who if anything becomes even more fearful, says, "You're the Kyuubi? But the Yondaime killed you!"

"Obviously not. I doubt we Bijuu could be killed, at least in the truest sense. Though sometimes I wish we could be," the Kyuubi said bitterly.

"Why would you want to die?" Naruto innocently asks.

"Because human, imagine living for several hundred years, and seeing those you care about wasting away to nothing. Imagine being one of the few to know the truth of a past – yours, or the worlds."

"What do you mean? Aren't you a demon, one who has no feelings but for yourself and your survival? Isn't wishing to die opposite to that "

"Hmmph, just like a human to talk about something they know nothing about," the Kyuubi muttered bitterly, "If somebody says the grass is red, does that make it true?"

All of a sudden Naruto realized something. The kyuubi was lonely. Angry about being sealed, and treated as a mindless beast had to be worse than what he was going through. At least he had a chance to prove himself. At least he was free. The Kyuubi on the other hand wasn't. It genuinely seemed to have feelings, as bitter as it was. Naruto made a decision then. A decision that would change his life and the entire world.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" came the surprised response.

"I said, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were lonely. I didn't know you had feelings aside from anger."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you care? Why when every other human has treated us like monsters and made no move to get to know us would you care? Why should I believe anything a human says?"

"I have an idea what you're going through. I'm pretty much-"

"Leave. Now."

"But..."

"NOW!" the Kyuubi roared '_As if a boy such as him could understand my pain._'

Naruto started awake, in a cold sweat. '_Was it a dream?' _He thought. No, he decided. It was quite real. Getting a bearing on his surroundings, Naruto realized he was in the hospital. A voice said, "Ah, your awake, Naruto."

"Old man! What the heck happened. Last thing I remember was falling out of a tree. And then something weird happened."

"Oh? What could have happened?" Naruto's surrogate grandfather claimed.

"I met the Kyuubi!" he replied.

The Sandaime looked startled, but it quickly disappeared from his face. "I'm sure it was a dream Naruto, I'm sure it was nothing."

"No, Old Man, it wasn't a dream. Why would you lie? Why would you not tell me!? I saw the surprise on your face. I'm stupid, contrary to what the instructors at the academy say."

The Sandaime replied, "It was to hopefully give you a better life."

"Better life? Better Life! At least if I knew, I would know it was none of my fault. At least then I would know why they hate me, ignore me, and treat me like an object instead of a person!"

The Sandaime looked sadly at him and said, "I'm sorry. At the time it felt like the right decision. I thought people would change. Obviously I was wrong. Hopefully you can forgive me in time."

"In time, maybe, but not now. I can tell you though, the Kyuubi is certainly not as evil as they seem to think."

"It was trying to trick you, Naruto. Demons tend to do that."

"No, he wasn't. You can't fake that kind of loneliness. I should know."

The Sandaime looked down in sadness. He vowed to change Naruto's situation. But there was one thing he couldn't let stand. "If you see or hear the Kyuubi again tell me."

"I might, I might not. I see no reason to tell you anything else that happens. Only when you can prove that you are truly honest and trustworthy will I believe you. Now leave, I'm tired of talking to you." With that he rolled on to his stomach and closed his eyes. The Hokage stood for a few seconds before thinking, '_I'm sorry, I will make this up to you_'. He left to go back to his office and think of how to help Naruto.

Naruto, however just closed his eyes and attempted to go back to that strange place with the Kyuubi. Trying for hours, he couldn't figure it out. Eventually he got desperate and thought, '_If you can hear me, __I'm sorry_. _I didn't mean to offend you._' With that, he attempted to sleep. Not long after, he dreamed. Dreamed of a group of people he didn't recognize. A group in strange clothes speaking a strange language.

**-Dream Sequence-**

"_We can't stop it this way," a man in all red wielding a sword that appeared to be on fire and a sword that appeared to be made of ice. He seemed desperate, as if whatever was attacking was impossible to beat. "All we can do is wait," a blonde haired woman with weird metal rings in her hands stated. "Yeah, and hopefully Sis can come up with something," A silver-haired man with a ball and spike like weapon said with worry. A man wearing shackles, but a fancy dress coat added, "Yes, all we can do is hope for Raine to come up with something." A rather flamboyant looking man with red hair and a pink coat stated, "I'm sure that my hunny will come up with something. She is after all extremely intelligent." The man with the shackles replied, "You shouldn't talk about my wife like that, Zelos. It's not becoming of the former chosen."_

_ "Yeah yeah," the now named Zelos said back without care, "how many times have you mentioned this? You know how I am."_

_ "Yes, and it gets rather annoying," the other one replied._

_ "Now is not the time everyone," a pink haired teenage girl with an axe interrupted, "We need to focus." So saying she blocked a disembodied shockwave with her axe. "Yeah, idiot chosen, how do you expect to defend yourself if you are acting like you usually do?" an unseen voice said in annoyance. All of the sudden they heard an excited squeal, "MARVELLOUS! I HAVE DISCOVERED A SOLUTION!"_

_"Now is not the time for your quirks Sis," The silver-haired man stated._

_ The voice came into view. It was a silver-haired woman, similar in looks to the man with the spike and ball weapon. She thwacked him upside the head and said, "I'm perfectly serious now. Anyway, I've come up with a solution. All we have to do is use this archaic spell I found to split the Juubi's power and seal it into ourselves and seal it's soul into a large object, like the moon. It is incredibly complicated and taxing, usually requiring the mana of one or two people to do. However we can split the amount needed between us. The thing is we need at least nine people to safely contain it's power, when we only have eight. In addition, there's no telling what will happen to us when it's done."_

_ "How is that even possible?" the silver-haired man exclaimed._

_ "I don't know but it's all we can try at this point," the silver-haired woman replied._

_ "Even so, you said we need nine people at least. Kratos left 50 years ago, how can he help us?"_

_ "There's Marta, she's been depressed since Emil died and has been unable to do much of anything. I'm sure she would do anything to take this thing down," the red suited man said._

_ "True, let's go to her. At the very least the Rheiards can still work, and are faster and more maneuverable than that demon's weird energy blasts." The scene shifted to a middle-aged woman, laying down as if asleep. She had orange gray hair, and looked to be in haggard shape. A voice, the one with the blonde hair said, "Hello, Marta." She got no response, but continued anyway. "We found __a way to beat it. But we need you. Your the only one with the strength to help us, what with your past connection to Ratatosk."_

_ All of the sudden, she shot up as if burned. She stared with vacant and bloodshot eyes. Eventually she spoke, in a voice unsteady with disuse and age. "How?" Was the simple question. "We seal its soul into the moon, then split its power up into nine parts, and seal one of each into each one of us."_

_ The expression on Marta's face changed from vacant to mad with grief and anger. "Let's do it. At least if we fail I can be with Emil again." So saying, she got up slowly and stiffly. They left the run down house and saw a dark purple-blue haired woman. She said, "Good, Colette. She agreed?"_

_ "Yes, Sheena, she did," the blonde replied. The scene shifted again to eight of the nine standing in a circle chanting in the same strange language. Suddenly a huge flash of light appeared. And the people were seen writhing in pain. The brightness of the light increased, and obscured everything else._

___**- Dream Sequence End -**_

Naruto awoke with a start, in a cold sweat.


	3. Chapter 3

Getting his bearings Naruto looked around and realized he was in the sewer again. With a smile he got up and walked in what he hoped was the direction to the Kyuubi's cage. Eventually it came into sight, and what he saw startled him. The Kyuubi was tossing and turning in his sleep. It was funny to see such a large being doing that, but also kind of sad. Naruto hated seeing anybody in pain. He walked closer and tried to figure out if he could get past the cage. He stuck a hand towards the bar. Sticking a hand through the bar he found he could. Walking towards the Kyuubi's head he thought about what could possibly be causing such a powerful beast (no, he reminded himself, no beast would feel sadness and anger. He was a being, a person with feelings and dreams and a past). Slowly he rubbed the head of the Kyuubi. Eventually the Kyuubi quieted down, and slept once more. Naruto stood there for the longest time, staring at nothing. He couldn't think of what caused the Kyuubi so much pain.

She woke up slowly, opening an eye and wondering why she felt so peaceful. She hadn't felt this in years. Not since the change. Her vision came into focus and saw...that blasted human! Why would he be in here! How would he be in here, for that matter? "What do you want?" she growled.

"I'm sorry," he replied, "I saw you in pain so I tried to help."

'_Why would he possibly care_,' she thought, '_what is there to gain_?' Out loud she said, "It's not your business if I'm in pain or not."

Naruto had finally had enough. He was tired of his help being scorned even though he honestly cared. He cried out, "Even if it's not my business I will still ask. I don't know what happened to you that made you hate humans aside from the obvious, being sealed and all, but I truly hate seeing somebody in pain. I know what it is like, unlike what you believe. So if you want to stay here and pity yourself that's fine. I won't bother you again." With that he started to walk away. '_He's different. I haven't met a human like him since, well it's been a long time. He reminds me quite a bit of Colette. Except male. I may as well give him a chance._' "Wait," she called.

He turned around at the edge of the bars. "What?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've actually been talked to like an intelligent being. Your right, I shouldn't wallow. Especially since it seems your willing to reach out."

He smiled. "Okay. I'm sorry I got mad. I've been trying for years to gain acknowledgment, and for somebody who probably has gone through things that are similar, and who is willing to throw away a chance at a friend, well it just doesn't sit well with me. If I may ask though what was causing your fear?"

"A memory of the past. The beginning of the end of my humanity."

"You were human? I didn't know that! Though it could explain why you're so bitter. If humans caused you to be sealed despite the fact that you were one yourself at one point must have been depressing. What made you lose it, may I ask?"

"You may. We, that is my companions and I, were fighting a giant demon. A true demon of the land of Niflheim. The only way to actually stop it was to seal it's soul in the moon, and split it's power. We would then take it into ourselves and die, taking the power with us. Things didn't go as planned, though. The Juubi, as it was called was too powerful. We successfully sealed its soul, but the power was too dense. It destroyed our bodies and forced our souls into the pieces. We were warped into pure chakra bodies. We kept our minds, but our bodies were monstrous. We decided that humanity would shun us, so we disappeared. We lived in solitude for about 150 or 200 years. Then the first of us was discovered and sealed. Over the next 200 or 300 years each one of us was sealed. We some how could sense and speak to each other with our minds, so we knew what was happening. We started to move around more, but we were to large and noticeable. I escaped simply because for some reason I had gained the most power. Eventually though, even I was caught. At first I was controlled, but eventually I was sealed. From what I could gather, I was sealed to protect others from my uncontrolled wrath, not as a weapon. That was the only relief I had. You've got to understand that over the years we changed from believing in the good of humanity to cursing it. We were treated as mindless beasts or sources of power. Nothing else. Our first containers got to know us, but they were mistreated as if they had our true power. They died, through their own hand or another's. We escaped but were immediately subdued. Eventually the newer containers had no clue how we felt and just believed like the others that we were mindless calamities. Even the most kind-hearted of all of us, Lloyd Irving and Colette Brunel became jaded, especially seeing how the ones they were sealed in got treated. They still were themselves, but they now distrust most of humanity."

Throughout all this Naruto was listening and thinking. '_Those names. Juubi, Colette, Lloyd. I know them from somewhere._' It came to him like a ton of bricks. The Dream! Somehow he had seen the Kyuubi's memories! He said enthusiastically, "Somehow I saw that. I saw your memory of the time before the Juubi got sealed! I saw it in a dream!"

"What? How? Describe what you saw!" He went on to describe the entire dream sequence. The Kyuubi seemed surprised by this. '_He saw my dream. But how? He missed the last bit, but still..._'

Naruto eventually asked, "What's your name? If you were human once, surely you had a name that wasn't, 'the fox of nine tails'. Also, what did you look like? Can you take a human form?"

Kyuubi replied, "My name was Fujibayashi Sheena, as to how I look like, I've never been very good at describing myself. As to whether or not I can take human form, well I never tried."

"Sheena? Isn't that a girl's name? Also, I would think you could. After all, you were human once, right? And chakra can become almost anything right? So you know how the human body works, and you are made of chakra, so why not try?"

The now named Sheena replied, "Yes, I am female, is that bad? And perhaps I should. It would make things less cramped." With that she focused. She disappeared from view. She felt better, lighter than she had in years. She opened eyes she didn't realize she had closed. She looked around and at herself. A hand, a five fingered hand was in her line of sight. With an excited shout, she danced around. "It worked, It worked!" All the while Naruto stared in awe. His idea worked. It actually worked! As he stared, though, he realized how incredibly pretty Sheena was. With Dark Purple-Bluish hair, and a light purple Kimono, as well as the smile, made Naruto blush. Controlling his expression he said, "No of course not, your voice while large sounded booming and masculine." Sheena stopped her dancing and said, "Ah, okay, as long as you aren't sexist or perverted. One of my companions was extremely perverted. In fact, the only thing he had going for him was that he didn't think we women couldn't fight. After all, I beat him plenty of times." '_Why I'm telling this to an eight year old I don't know. I would think that he hasn't ever had a talk with anybody about human reproduction_'.

"What's a sexist and a pervert?" Naruto innocently asked.

"Um, you'll understand when your older. Anyway, I was wondering could I see your memories? I've been sleeping for almost the entirety of your life because I never expected to have somebody to talk to as an equal. Because of this I don't know what your life has been like, and I'm incredibly curious," Sheena replied.

"Sure, go ahead," Naruto replied.

Sheena walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his head. Naruto stiffened then relaxed. She stood there for 5 minutes, then 10, then 20, until suddenly she jerked back as if shocked. Her expression was one of anger and sadness. "I'm sorry," she said after a few moments, "I'm sorry for claiming you know nothing of my feelings. I saw the horrible crushing loneliness you went through. As long as you wish, I will be your friend, your family, and your shoulder to cry on should you need it. I will even help you train and pass on some of my knowledge."

"Thank you, Sheena. You have no idea how thankful I am," Naruto said.

"That said, you should wake up soon. I should be able to speak in your mind and if you think your words I will hear you back. I will train you whenever you are ready."

Naruto woke up to the Sandaime calling his name. The Hokage saw that Naruto was awake and spoke. "Ah, your awake. The doctors have assured me that you are good to go. In addition, I have found a teacher and companion for you."

"Well, _Lord Hokage_, I'll have to decline your request," Naruto said coldly. The Sandaime recoiled as if slapped. "What's wrong, Naruto?" the Sandaime said in shock. "I told you. I haven't forgiven you for lying to me. I might in time, but for now, I want nothing to do with you," Naruto shot back with venom. With that parting shot, Naruto got up and left, the Hokage standing there looking down in shame.

**A/N So yeah. The Kyuubi is Sheena. She was the prime choice for several reasons. 1. Corrine/Verius was a fox 2. She's one of my favorite characters 3. She's badass and has similar skills (that is what appears to be sealed cards), to the Uzumaki (she appears to use a form of fuuinjutsu). Oh, and I'm pretty sure what Sheena wears isn't a kimono, but sadly I don't know much about traditional garb. If isn't a Kimono, could some body tell me?**


End file.
